Introduction ...

How Far From Thomas Place to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Thomas Place to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Thomas Place to:

Decatur [Map], which is the Seat of Morgan County, lies 18 miles [29 km] to the North. If you could walk a straight line from Thomas Place to Decatur, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.

Montgomery [Map], which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 142 miles [228.5 km] to the South Southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.

The White House (Washington, DC [Map]) is 635 miles [1,021.9 km] to the East Northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.

The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock [Map]) is 6,521 miles [10,494.5 km] and it lies to the Northeast (NE).<4>

The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba [Map]) is 7,233 miles [11,640.4 km] and it lies to the Northeast (NE).<5>

The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican [Map]) is 5,109 miles [8,222.1 km] and it lies to the Northeast (NE).<6>

Communities Also Named Thomas Place ...

We have found 2 communities that share the name Thomas Place.

While the name Thomas Place is unique within Alabama, we know of another 2 communities with the same name in the United States.

Footnotes ...

<1>

Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance from Thomas Place. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Thomas Place) to Point B.

Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thomas Place. The point that we are using is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3201, Longitude: -86.9931 [Map]. In this case, the coordinates for Thomas Place have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).

While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.

The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Thomas Place to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.